In order to say anything about gender and violence – apart from counting the number of men and women who abuse or are being abused – we need to look at the meaning behind the violence, according to the Norwegian researcher Hilde Jakobsen.

The majority of men who use violence against their partner struggle with serious mental health issues. We need to look at more than just the power relations between the sexes in order to understand and prevent domestic violence, says researcher.

Having a higher income or education than your partner could be risky, as a higher socio-economic status than ones partner increases the chance of psychological violence and abuse. This applies to both men and women.

Why did Simone de Beauvoir fight rape in France while Unni Rustad simultaneously became famous in Norway by burning porn magazines? Factors such as national differences and personal experiences may help explain why the struggle against sexual violence manifested itself so differently in the two countries.

“Although the gender-equal man is the norm, men’s violence against women hasn’t disappeared. But it’s more difficult to spot because the abusers don’t define it as domestic abuse,” says masculinities researcher Lucas Gottzén.

Violence is neither a women’s problem nor a men’s problem. According to Professor Tove Ingebjørg Fjell at the University of Bergen, it is a human problem. She conducts research on men who are physically abused by their intimate partners.

Violence inflicted by an intimate partner lasts longer if the couple has children together, and the violence continues after the relationship ends. In addition, children are harmed more by witnessing violence between their parents than previously thought.